Manifolding machine



April 3, 1928. 1,664,568

A. w. METzNER MANIFOLDING MACHINE Filed Feb.18, 1924 A TTORNEY PatentedApr. 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE.

.ALBERT W. METZNER, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN Q. SHERMAN, OFDAYTON, OHIO.

IAN IFOLDIN G MACHINE.

Application med February is, 1924. semi No. 693,464.

\My invention relates to manifolding machilies, and more particularly tomachines which are adapted to feed printed forms of definite lengthlover a. writing support upon which notations are made, said notationsbeing transferred from one Web to another by means of interleaved carbonpaper.

In the construction of manifolders of the type noted above, same beinggenerally termed autographic registers, one of the manufacturingproblems involved is the provision of a standard type of feed for thepaper, which will accommodate a Wide range of demand in length ofprinted form which is to be fed.

Where the feed shaft is driven by means of gearing the gears can bearranged to give the desired length of feed, but this manner of solvinthe manufacturing problem is not fully satisfactory because a widevariety lof gears have to be carried, and furthermore, the conversion ofa machine built to issue a given length of form cannot readily bealtered to issue another length, and'result in a neat job, withoutreturning the machine to the factory.

Also it is found convenient to mount the operating handle, where themachines are manually operated, on the same center as the feed shaft ofthe machine, as this makes the assembly simpler, and the handle locationmost convenient. Also it is advantageous, as is evident, to produce amachine in which every element of each machine is alike except for somefinal adjustment or equipment, and furthermore if the customer canhimself without difficulty or special tools convert his machine from onelength feed to another, an added possibility of use is obtained whichoften becomes of value, making it possible for the business man tochange the length forms which he desires to use, without having to sendall of` his machines back to the factory to be equipped for the new sizefor s.

It is thus the object of my invention to provide a. machine of themanifolding type, particularly of the autographic register type,

yin which a simple paper feed is provided, which can be easily convertedto feed different lengths of form, or which can be made l adjustable tofeed different lengths.

I accomplish my object Kby that certain construction and arrangement ofparts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a manifolding machineshowing myinvention.

Figure 2 1s a detail end elevation of the machine with the cabinetremoved.

Figure 3 is a larger scale side elevation of the pin wheel yoperatingand mounting devices.

Figure 4: is a detail vertical section through the parts shown inelevation in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective of a modified form of pawl trip.

Referring generally to the machine, I show a frame generally marked 1,and a, cabinet marked 2, covering the frame. The pa er rolls are shownat 3, and the writing ta le indicated at 4. The paper webs are drawn upover idlers 5 on the rear end of the table, thence over the table whenthey are interleaved with carbon and then to the feed mechanism. Myinvention concerns only the feed mechanism.

Mounted across between the side walls of the frame is a shaft 6, onwhich is a sleeve 7, loosely mounted so as to permit relative rotation.A friction piece formed of two halves of rubber or fibre as at 8, boltedtogether by bolts 9 around the sleeve at some intermediate point, isheld in fixed position in the frame by means of a mounting arm 10 thrustinto a hole in one of the cross braces 11 of the frame. This frictionpiece holds the sleeve against rotation on the shaft, when it is desiredto permit the shaft to rotate without the sleeve.

Mounted on the sleeve are one or more pin wheels 12, of the type shownin the patent to John Q.. Sherman, No. 1,37 2,460, of March 22, 1921,said wheels having hubs 13 fast on the sleeve. The paper is fed throughthe machine by the pins on the wheels engaging equally interspaced holesformed in the Webs of paper to be fed, and for thel feeding actionreference is made to the John Q. Sherman patent aforesaid.

The shaft 6 is revolved by mcans of an operating handle 14, securedthereto in any desired manner, and this handle is provided with a stopin the form of spring pins 15 controlled by means of a trip p ate 16mounted on the handle. For a full descripshown in two forms in thedrawings.

ne; incassa tion of this stop mechanism, reference is made to the patentto @lohn Q. Sherman, No. 1,5t1,285, dates .iene e, 1925.,

'lhe purpose of the stop 1s to define the single cycle of operations ofthe machine whereby the operating handle 1s revolved one completerevolution, each time' the paper is to be fed, this revolution toaccomplish the feeding of a single set of forms of the desired length.'Ihere may be types of operating members for the feed shaft in the formof a motor drive, or in the forms of rock levers which do not make a.complete revolution, all of which are familiar in the art and could beused instead of a mere direct connected handle with a stop, operativeonce each complet/'e revolution. 'lhe essential point is that theoperator can guide his operations by moving the operating element fromstart to stop position, and no more and no less.

In order to control the amount of paper fed by the pin wheels, amechanism 1s 1nserted between the shaft and the sleeve thereon, whichwill feed the pin wheels through such portion of one or more revolutionsas may be desired and arranged for.

To this end the sleeve or the hub of the one pin lwheel is equipped withtwo ratehets 20 and 2l, of which the ratchet 2O is for forward feeding,the ratchet 21 for back feeding, and locking the handle to the pm wheelsagainst forcible withdrawal of webs of paper when the handle is instopped p0- sition.

Mounted on the shaft 6 is a pawl carrier 22, in the form of a platehaving a pivot pin 23 thereon. A spring 24: is wound around the pin andits ends rest against the edges of two pawls 25 and 26 both mounted onthe pin and extendin in opposite directions. The pawls will e so locatedas to engage each one, a ratchet on the pin wheel sleeve. The pawl 25which engages the ratchet 20 and is used for forward feeding has anextension 27 which is struck down by means of a guard, to prevent thefeed for the desired portion of the revolution of the shaft 6.

An adjustable guard,A which of course, could be replaced with anon-adjustable or fixed guard, at the factory if desiredr,l1 is he guardin the assembly views has a mounting plate 28, and a partiallycircumferential iange 29, which projects inwardly from the side wall ofthe frame into a position to envga e the extension on the pawl 25. Aplural1ty of mounting bolts or studs 3() are set into the mountingplate, which if desired, can be made to engage around the shaft 6loosely, said studs extending out through the side frame wall, andequipped there with adjusting nuts 31. Springs 32 set around the studsbetween the mounting plate and the side wall tend to force the mountingplate inwardly while the nuts pull the plate toward the side wall.rll`he flange is out in one form in steps 33, for several standardlengths of paper web to be fed. The pawl is struck up by its extensionstriking tlm.y full width edge of the flange at 34, and escapes to comeinto mesh with the ratchet when it is freed by one of the steps. Thecontrolling factor as to which step is used for the releasino point, isthe distance of the mounting plate in from the side wall, which iscontrolled by the adjusting nuts, describedabove.

If desired, to have an adjustable element for sniallgradations of lengthof form, the inner edge of the flange can be cut at a slant as indicatedat 35 (Figure 5),the pawl being struck down at its extension and up atits ratchet engagement by the edge 34, and escapes whenever theextension rides out from under the tapering edge of the dange.

If it is desired to have the pawl controlling device non-adjustable, itis evident that the mounting studs can be used to mount a controllino'device or guard, which has its flange of Efull width throughout, and ofthe desired length of arc. The manufacturer canthen make up dilerentlengths of guard, and providethem to the customer, with the mountingstuds placed alike so that all guards will fit each machine. The springson the mounting studs could, of course, be omitted in such a structure,which will not require illustration.

While I have shown a particular form of feeding mechanism for paper, anda particular form of pawl controlling device, it will be understood thatother equivalent structures could be substituted without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

rlhe back pawl 26 engaging the forwardly faced ratchet 21, will permitthe operator to turn the pin wheel back should he' desire for a partialrevolution, but chiefl serves to hold thel pin wheels against overt row,and to prevent the paper being withdrawn from the machine by pulling itout by hand, without operating the hand lever, drive motor or whateveris used 4to impart the feeding impulse.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. .In a manifolding machine, a paper feeding device having a rotating.member, a power means, a pawl and ratchet drive intermedlate the powermeans and the rotating member and means adapted to hold the pawl out ofengagement during desired portions of a single operation of the powermeans, said pawl holding means comprising a member, having an arc shapedange concentric with the movement of the pawl and the pawl having anextension to be engaged by said flange, said flange having an edgepresenting pawl engaging zones of different length dependent upon theposition of said member.

2. In a manifolding machine, a paper feeding device having a rotatingmember, a power means, a pawl and ratchet drive intermediate the powermeans and the rotating member, and means adapted to hold the pawl out ofengagement during desired portions of a single operation of the powermeans, said pawl holding means comprising a member, having an arc shapedflange concentric withv the movement of the pawl, and the pawl having anextension to be engaged by said flange, said flange having an edgepresenting a pawl tripping face, and a pawl releasing face which tapersaway from the engaging face toward the side of the machine, and meansfor adjusting the member to and from the side of the machine, for thepurpose described.

8. A paper feeding device for manifolding machines comprising a shaft, asleeve on the shaft, feed wheels on the sleeve, a handle for rotatingthe sleeve, a pawl and ratchet drive between the shaft and its sleeve,and a pawl guard for controlling the contact of the pawl element withthe ratchet element, said pawl guard adjustable to and from the path ofthe pawl in a plane at right angles to the path of the pawl, said guardhaving an edge shaped to release the pawl at a plurality of pointsdepending upon its adjustment, and an end to engage the pawl at adefinite point for all adjustments.

4. In a manifolding machine, a paper feeding vdevice having a rotatingmember, a power means adapted to rotate from a stop position to anotherstop position for accomplishing the feedingof a single set of forms fromsuch machine, a pawl and ratchet drive intermediate the power means andthe rotatmg member and adjustable means adapted Vto hold the pawl out ofengagement during desired portions of each movement from stop to stop ofthe rotating power means, Whereby a measured feed to issue a selectedindividual form will result from a uniform movement of the power means.

5. In a'manifolding machine, a paper feeding device having a rotatingmember, a feed handle adapted to rotate through a complete circle from astop position to another stop position for accomplishing the feeding ofa single set of forms from such machine, a pawl and ratchet driveintermediate the power means and the rotating member, and means adaptedto hold the pawl out of engagement during desired portions of themovement from stop to stop of the rotating handle, said pawl holdingmeans being adjustable to control the portion of the single operationsduring which the pawl will be out of engagement, for the purposedescribed.

6. In a manifolding machine, a paper feeding device having a rotatingmember, a power means, a pawl and ratchet drive intermediate the powermean-s and the rotatingl member and means .adapted to holdv the pawl outof engagement during desired portions of a single operation of the powermeans, said pawl holding means comprising a member having an arc shapedflange concentric with the movement of the pawl and the pawl having anextension to be engaged by said flange, and means for adjusting theposition of said member.'

ALBERT W. METZNER.

